San Francisco Parent Political Action Committee Endorses June 2016’s Prop B: Increasing Funding for San Francisco Parks, Playgrounds, and Open Space.

April 8, 2016 (San Francisco, CA) – The San Francisco Parent Political Action Committee (SF Parent PAC) is proud to announce its support of Proposition B, a charter amendment on the June 2016 ballot that provides new, sustainable funding for our parks, playgrounds and open space for the next 30 years.

“This measure attempts to right-size the long underfunded Recreation and Parks Department to both align with the intentions of the Open Space Fund that was established in in 2002, and to better serve the families and citizens of San Francisco,” said Michelle Parker, President of the SF Parent PAC. “Families all over the city rely on the parks and incredible programs our parks department provide every day of the year. Prop B will allow the department to focus on maintaining and improving those spaces and recreation centers, and allow the Department to more quickly address the backlog of deferred maintenance across the city’s park system.”

Prop B would provide new funds to the Recreation and Parks Department by gradually increasing the 2015-2016 established baseline allocation from San Francisco’s general fund, and continuing to increase the baseline over the next 10 years, without raising taxes. This will provide predictable and sustainable funding for the remaining 20 years of the fund’s duration.

Additionally, for the first time ever, the measure would require that the Recreation and Parks Department’s Strategic, Capital Expenditure, and Operational Plans include an equity analysis based on metrics comparing existing Recreation and Park services and resources in underserved communities with services and resources in the City as a whole. The plans would have to include strategies to address the findings of the analysis. These annual plans, including the equity report, would be presented to the Recreation and Parks Commission and Board of Supervisors. The SF Parent PAC encourages transparency and accountability measures such as these and looks forward to learning about the findings each year.

“As a father of three, I appreciate and applaud the Parent PAC’s tireless advocacy to make San Francisco a better place for all families and children. Proposition B will improve all parks in every neighborhood for all of San Francisco children and families – I am honored to have the Parent PAC’s support of Proposition B,” stated Supervisor Mark Farrell, sponsor of the measure.

About the San Francisco Parent PAC
Founded by and for San Francisco parents in 2010, San Francisco Parent Political Action Committee (PAC) is committed to giving parents a voice in the political process to positively impact the lives of all San Francisco families. San Francisco Parent PAC supports and promotes city candidates, measures and policies that will most effectively:

Ensure high quality education for every child in every neighborhood;

Increase access to affordable youth programs that support working families and enrich the lives of our children; and

September 10, 2015 (San Francisco, CA) – The San Francisco Parent Political Action Committee has taken position on five November 2015 ballot measures critical to keeping families in San Francisco.

Prop A [Affordable Housing Bond] – YES

Prop B [Enhancement of Paid Parental Leave for City Employees] – YES

Prop D [Mission Rock Development] – YES

Prop F [Short-term Residential Rentals] – NO

Prop I [Mission Development Moratorium] – NO

The common theme here is affordable housing, which is the focus of four of the five measures and has also been an area of focus for the Parent PAC over the past year.

ABOUT THE HOUSING MEASURESThe YES Positions. Both of the housing measures are on the ballot because they must be by law; they will also positively affect the stock of affordable housing in San Francisco.

Prop A provides $310 million for affordable housing (building, acquisition, improvement, etc.) through a bond. Per California law, bond measures must go to the voters and be passed with 2/3 of the vote, so this is not an issue that can be handled by the Board of Supervisors.

Prop D is on the ballot as a result of the passage of Prop B in 2014, which restricts height limits on the Waterfront unless voters approve otherwise. This measure covers the area south of AT&T Park across from McCovey Cove and the plans were put together through a multi-year community engagement process. It has been met with broad support and would create open space, a parking garage, renovation to historical property, and more. Most importantly, 40% of these new units will be affordable housing.

The NO Positions. Both of these measures are the wrong approach to solving San Francisco’s affordability crisis and will not make it easier for families to stay in the city.

Prop F addresses the hot topic of short-term rentals, and while some of the concepts are good, this measure does not belong on the ballot. Any policies put in place to regulate short term rentals should be done legislatively. Passing this measure would make it impossible for our elected officials to respond to new circumstances or information as this new economy plays out. If Prop F passes, any amendments to the measure or new regulations on short-term rentals will not be permitted via legislation–but only through the passage of another ballot measure. Additionally, the Board of Supervisors has put in place recent policies and regulations that have had little time to take effect.

Prop I is playing to people’s emotions but is not good policy. Halting new building in the Mission just means more people will be displaced as the Mission will continue to be a popular destination for new residents of San Francisco to live. This area has seen high levels of displacement but has also had some of the lowest increases of new housing stock available of any neighborhood in San Francisco. Said Parent PAC President Michelle Parker, “Prop I is making people feel good, but in a few years if additional housing has not been added to the neighborhood, supporters of Prop I will realize the misguided nature of this proposition.”

Prop B expands paid parental leave for City employees in two important ways: (1) allowing new parents to retain accrued sick time rather than be required to use it all up before using parental leave; and (2) allowing City employees, who are part of a two-City employee household, each to take his or her allotted parental leave, rather than being limited to a maximum leave for both employees combined. We support these measures because they respect the needs of parents upon the birth or adoption of a child. New parents — maybe more than anyone — need sick time to take a child to the doctor or stay home when sick themselves. Eliminating the maximum household leave properly affords leave based on the service of individual employees, as would be the case in any other employment situation. These are modest but meaningful changes that make sense for parents.

About the San Francisco Parent PAC
Founded by and for San Francisco parents in 2010, San Francisco Parent Political Action Committee (PAC) is committed to giving parents a voice in the political process to positively impact the lives of all San Francisco families. San Francisco Parent PAC supports and promotes city candidates, measures and policies that will most effectively:

Ensure high quality education for every child in every neighborhood;

Increase access to affordable youth programs that support working families and enrich the lives of our children; and

Having a good summer? We hope it’s filled with lots of watermelon and laughs, with bee stings and sunburns at a minimum.

We want to let you know what the SF Parent PAC has been up to, to keep you in the loop. As a Political Action Committee for San Francisco’s parents, we’re busy trying to make our city a place where families can thrive.

This is what we worked on in the past year:

We helped re-elect Sandy Fewer, Rachel Norton, and Jill Wynns to the School Board, raising close to $45,000 and sending two mailers to some 50,000 households.

We supported a parks bond measure called Prop B, which ensures almost $200 million will be invested in our city’s park and recreation infrastructure. Most of the funding will go to traditionally underserved neighborhoods in the Southeastern part of the city.

We strongly supported building new soccer fields behind the Beach Chalet in Golden Gate Park, which were approved by the California Coastal Commission. The new fields will mean many more kids will get a chance to play in improved conditions.

We successfully lobbied City Hall to fully Fund the Public Education Enrichment Fund which will make sure every public elementary school will have a full time Physical Education teacher and librarian in the upcoming school year.

We helped pass Prop 30, which gives California’s public education system more funding.

These are our priorities going forward:

The reauthorization of the Public Education Enrichment Fund, which dedicates some City funds to ensure sports, arts, music and libraries in our public schools.

The reauthorization of the Children’s Fund, which sets aside some property tax funds for a wide array of children and youth programming, including parks and recreation, afterschool programming, athletics, academic enrichment, and more. . .

Analyzing the school district’s education reform application with the federal government.

Looking for outstanding candidates to run for School Board in 2014.

A special note on Afterschool Care:

Finding good and reliable afterschool care is difficult for all working parents. It doesn’t matter where you live or what you make. While some schools offer great programs for all students, too many don’t. We believe every school can be like Commodore Sloat and Jose Ortega, offering the same level of high quality afterschool programming for all. We are already talking to officials on the school board, at the school district, and City Hall to make “Afterschool for All” at every school a reality.